Why it’s preferable for the Leafs to sign RFA players coming off their ELC’s to 1-way contracts vs. 2-way contracts.

Lets say I’m the manager of the Hurricanes and I like this Ashton kid. The Leafs are putting him on waivers, and I think he can help me right now, but what if I have to put him on waivers myself in a month? I have to consider this, because I have a strict budget, and 850K is a big deal to me. Well, with a 1-way deal, I’m on the hook for 850K, or whatever the contract is – unless someone else claims him on waivers, which is unlikely since it’s now the second time in short order and most teams have their own guys earning spots. With a 2-way deal however, I get to keep him as a call-up option for a measly 50K – even I can afford that. I’m pulling the trigger. – So essentially, the 1-way deal acts as a deterrent to many teams making a claim on a player like this. Good teams like Chicago and LA and Boston aren’t likely to have either the space, or the need to add a potential player, so you’re mostly talking about budget teams making claims anyways. And so because of the potential to be stuck with a big AHL salary, the Leafs have typically preferred to give out 1-way deals in order to deter waiver claims. See Joe Colborne opting for a 1-way 600K deal vs his 2-way qualifying offer of 850K. And I think the Leafs had higher hopes for Colborne at that time than they do with Ashton.

Anthony Petrielli

Cameron19 Yes, but if I’m the Leafs I’m thinking I can just get him right back on waivers down the road and only a team desperate for a player would claim Ashton in the first place. Most teams want to give their own guys in house a shot first and foremost.

Cameron19

Anthony Petrielli Cameron19 That’s why I picked an incredibly forward thin team like Carolina for my example. That team is more likely to claim Ashton with his current contract, than if he’d signed a 2 year deal, 1-way, at 650K, in my opinion. So if we have another gong show of a camp where Carlyle randomly decides that he needs McLaren and Orr back on the roster, and Ashton doesn’t make his cut, we’re increasing the odds that someone takes him. Sure we might be able to claim him back.

Anthony Petrielli

Cameron19 Anthony Petrielli I’m not sold Ashton is an NHLer though, and it’s not good business to give a guy money just because you can.

Cameron19

Anthony Petrielli Cameron19 It’s just poor asset management for a team that has no need to be cautious with money in 1-way vs. 2-way deals. A single ad spot on Leafs TV probably pays for Ashton’s entire salary either way, lol.

Cameron19

Anthony Petrielli Cameron19 If he’s not an NHL player, great, at least he can go down and help our farm team and provide depth – we know he’s at least good enough for spot duty and call-ups.

Anthony Petrielli

Cameron19 Anthony Petrielli I would be more likely to claim a guy making 600K on a one-way deal (which is what he would have got), then a guy making 850K on a two-way. Especially if I was Carolina.

Anthony Petrielli

Cameron19 Anthony Petrielli He’d be one of the highest paid players in the league at 600K+.

http://i.imgur.com/MyKj5C3.gif ingy56

Hayes on TSN radio chuckling about the late to the party Tweets about Holland and Ashton signing. I wonder who he means because the SN crew has yet to send a signal that I’m aware of. Still early for those guys.

Cameron19

Anthony Petrielli Cameron19 I disagree with that entirely. If the 600K doesn’t work out, you’re paying him 600k to do nothing for you. If they 850k doesn’t work out, you’re paying him peanuts to be a depth option. The first option leads to players like Brunnstrom getting moved for nothing because teams like that simply can’t pay AHL players 600K to be depth options.

Cameron19

Anthony Petrielli Cameron19 There are tons of 1-way guys in the AHL. McLaren, for starters.

Anthony Petrielli

Cameron19 Anthony Petrielli The NHL salary is all that matters man. Or else he’s just back on waivers again.

Anthony Petrielli

Cameron19 Anthony Petrielli Yeah, and he’s one of the highest paid players in that league. That is not the norm. The Leafs just have a lot of money and spend it unwisely.

http://mapleleafshotstove.com/ Declan Kerin

Test

http://mapleleafshotstove.com/ Declan Kerin

Reply 1

Cameron19

Anthony Petrielli Cameron19 Right, but not likely to be claimed again. So you’re stuck with him at that point. Better to be stuck with the guy making 50K in the AHL than the guy making 600K. So it deters them from making the claim in the first place. – Of course, this is all a moot point if Carlyle just selects the proper roster, but we know he won’t/

Cameron19

Anthony Petrielli Cameron19 Lots of teams waive 1-way players into the AHL. We aren’t alone. You’ll find there are a ton of guys on one way deals making 575K.

Cloud09

Rebuilding from scratch?

http://mapleleafshotstove.com/ Declan Kerin

It’s all we have right now. Livefyre is down completely, I guess.

Cloud09

Lol, that’s ok. A little nostalgia never hurt anyone.

http://mapleleafshotstove.com/ DeclanK

Looks like Livefyre is back up now.

Cloud09

Wow, that was weird, I was in some alternate wordpress universe.

http://i.imgur.com/MyKj5C3.gif ingy56

Cloud09 Did you catch up with Bryz?

http://mapleleafshotstove.com/ DeclanK

Cloud09 We actually had WordPress based comments in testing, MCinzar tried it out. I actually prefered it and it wasn’t as glitchy, but it didn’t have real-time notifications.